Don't you just love when ideas randomly come together?? I've always wanted a Jumbo Checker Set from Cracker Barrel and my whole family knows this. At the end of the school year, my youngest son's teacher was cleaning out her classroom and she had one of these awesome sets to GET RID OF! So my son snagged it for me - isn't he the SWEETEST?!?!? Anyway, I thought it would be an awesome free time activity for the kiddos... UNTIL I saw FlapJack Educational Resources' post on Classroom Freebies... She made Jumbo Checkers Measurement Facts!! Her FREE printables focus on Common Core 4.MD.A.1 and 4.MD.A.2.

Since I'm in Texas and we don't do Common Core, I tweaked mine to fit our math TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills --- for those of you in Texas, 4.11.A is a Readiness skill)... Our students don't have to memorize conversions between standard and metric units because they are given a Math Conversion Chart. Our big push in measurement is knowing how these measurements apply to life... For example, what does a gallon/cm/ton LOOK like? So I adapted my checkers to question my kiddos on what I call "real life measurements". I also threw in the formulas for finding area, perimeter and volume.

All regular checkers rules apply, however to move, you must answer the question on the pawn you're moving. You can check to see if you're right by looking on the bottom... Incorrect? Lose a turn!

I printed my questions and answers onto regular copy paper, cut them out and modge podge'd them to the checkers. They crinkle a bit, but they do stick! Want a copy? Download for FREE HERE!

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Do you have jobs in your classroom?? I have classroom "managers". Last summer, I posted a Monday Made It where I explained WHY I use classroom managers, showed HOW I use classroom Managers and posted pics on WHAT it looks like in my classroom (see the post HERE). This year, I've made a downloadable version for YOUR classroom!

You can purchase the pack in my TeachersPayTeachers Store HERE. The pack includes 21 manager positions (including "Managers on Vacation") and blank cards for you to create jobs in your own classroom. There is also a Classroom Manager Positions description sheet (so kiddos know what positions are available) and an application page (I make my kiddos apply for their jobs - be sure to check out why in my blog post from last summer!)

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One of my favorite things about summer is I have the time to hang out with family and friends. We had a party last weekend and I made Texas Caviar. It's a delicacy in Texas -- not really but it is delicious.

Here's the recipe!

- 2 cans yellow corn

- 2 cans Rotel (I like the HOT version)

- 1 can of black beans

- 1 can of jalapeno pinto beans

- 1 red onion, chopped

- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

- 1/2 package of taco seasoning (or more to your liking)

- splash of Italian dressing (as much as you like)

I like mixing all of this up the night before and letting the flavors get all yummy and delicious together. Then right before serving I add avocado! I usually use 3-4 depending on their size. Serve with Tortilla Chips!

Hope you've enjoyed all of my Monday Made Its! They're all kind of Texas themed... YEEHAW!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

After a long day of teaching (or summer crafting), the last thing I want to do is have to make dinner... But since I love my guys, I always try to make them something yummy and since I also love myself, this yumminess must also be easy (big shout out to all the steamable veggie makers out there).

One of my family's favorite dinners is what we call Mac'n'Chicken Casserole. SO easy. SO good.

The end of the school year was a WHIRLWIND. Which is why I have not posted since January! I will try to catch you up with everything we did though, so get ready for a massive picture post :)

As we got ready for the STAAR test, lots of fun (and sometimes delicious) reviewing took place...

In February, we reviewed fractions, measurement and conversions while we baked cupcakes:

In March, we reviewed area and perimeter by making a zoo. I cannot for the life of me remember where I got this idea, but I know it was from Pinterest... Basically, my students designed an animal enclosure and had to solve for its area and perimeter. Then they got to color!

After the STAAR test, we learned TONS of science! Here are a few of the topics we covered (and that I remembered to take pics of!).

-Matter

-Moon Phases (with Oreos... YUM)

-Food Chains & Dissecting Owl Pellets

We also did a Science Fair project (which detergent worked best). Students broke into groups according to the detergent they thought would work best, stained some socks, washed them, and made boards to show the results. SO FUN!

I also managed to squeeze in some art lessons with my homeroom...

-Vincent Van Gogh

-Pablo Picasso

- Andy Warhol

That's not all we did, but that's most of it. This school year was AMAZING. My students worked their tails off yet we had tons of fun. I feel so privileged to have gotten to work with such a fabulous group of kiddos!! I already miss my babies!